Hugo Stiglitz
Hugo Stiglitz was a German sergeant, well known for killing at least 13 Gestapo officers. He, Aldo Raine and Archie Hicox were the only non-Jewish members of The Basterds. Background Stiglitz was born or grew up in Frankfurt, Germany. During WWII, he joined the Wehrmacht. As a German enlisted man, he managed to kill thirteen Gestapo officers, mostly Majors. Instead of putting him against a wall and a firing squad, the High Command decided to send him back to Berlin to be made an example of. However, once The Basterds heard of his exploits and skill at murdering German officers, they staged a rescue mission and officially recruited him. Story Chapter Two - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Hugo Stiglitz is first in the French forest where The Basterds ambushed a German military squad. He is seen pushing the survivors of the German squad, while wielding an MG42. When Aldo Raine interrogates sgt. Werner Rachtman about the location of another German squad, Hugo is seen up on a wall looking at the German sergeant, when Aldo introduces him. We then see his deeds in a flashback, as told by the Narrator. Stiglitz sneaks behind and strangles a Gestapo officer with a garrote; stabs another one in the face through a pillow and chokes a third one by pushing his fist into his mouth and suffocates him. He is then shown chained and dragged in chains by German soldiers into jail. He doesn't react at all when the Basterds shoot the guards guarding him, instead he calmly keeps smoking his cigarette. He accepts Aldo Raine's offer to join them. When Donny Donowitz beats Werner to death, Stiglitz is cheering and shouting his name, like the rest of the Basterds. Chapter Four - OPERATION KINO Stiglitz is seen with Aldo, Donny, Wicki, Hicox and another Basterd in the ruined house rendezvous from the village of Nadine. Hugo, Wicki and Hicox are about to meet with their contact and Ally double agent, the defected German actress Bridget von Hammersmark in the village tavern called La Louisiane, to exchange information and proceed with the next steps of Operation Kino. Hugo is calmly sharpening his knife in another room. Hicox approaches Hugo and mentions that they are not expecting any trouble and then asks him, rather obnoxiously, that in case something does go wrong, can Hugo remain calm. Stiglitz then stops sharpening his knife and responds with "do I not look calm to you?". Doing his best to not look like a fool who just asked a rhetorical question, but failing, Hicox says back to Hugo "well, when you put it that way, I guess you do". Stiglitz then calmly returns to sharpening his knife. Hicox remarks to Raine that Stiglitz is not very "loquacious". When Stiglitz, Hicox and Wicki enter the tavern, they are surprised to see the bar open and occupied by German soldiers sitting at a table and partying, who salute them. Stiglitz, Hicox and Wicki freeze upon seeing the German soldiers, not expecting anyone else except von Hammersmark. Bridget von Hammersmark tells them to wait for her, as she'll join them soon at the other table. Stiglitz, Wicki and Hicox order three whiskey glasses. When Bridget joins them, Hicox gestures Stiglitz to stand up and cheek kiss her, to maintain their cover, which he does. He and the others listen to von Hammersmark's information until Wilhelm bothers her and asks for an autograph. Willhelm's wife just gave birth to a son 5 hours earlier and Stiglitz congratulates him. Wilhelm reveals his son's name to be Maximilian, and Stiglitz tells him that's a beautiful name. Wilhelm, fairly drunk, continues to pester von Hammersmark. Hicox gets annoyed and orders Willhelm to go back to his table. After a pause, Willhelm asks Hicox from which part of Germany he is from, as he finds his accent unusual. Stiglitz, sensing Hicox's cover is in danger, grabs Willhelm and tells him that he must be drunk or mad to talk to a superior officer with such impertinence. He orders his other comrades to take him back to his table, threatening that he'll spend the night in jail for public drunkenness. From the other room, Dieter Hellstrom reveals his presence. He arrives at their table, mentions that he also finds Hicox's accent strange, and begins questioning Hicox. Hellstrom correctly identifies Stiglitz's accent as being from Frankfurt. Hicox begins to tell Hellstrom his cover story of his strange accent and convinces him. Hellstrom then decides to join the table and pats Stiglitz on the back to move to the other chair, as he wants to stay closer to Hicox. Stiglitz isn't very happy about this, but complies. He keeps staring at the Gestapo officer during the time that he's at their table. During this time he has a flashback (epic Tarantino guitar riff included) where he's being tortured by the Nazis. Hellstrom insists on playing the same card guessing game as the other table of soldiers. Hugo writes King Kong on a card and gives it to Hellstrom. After the Major guesses, he asks all the men at the table to finish their drinks. Stiglitz drinks his whiskey and angrily stares at Hellstrom. After Hicox blows his cover by ordering 3 more drinks with his ring finger, middle and index finger, which is considered odd in German and in most continental Europe, Hellstrom readies his gun under the table and informs Hicox that he gave himself away and that his gun is pointed at his testicles. Hicox however, replies that he too is pointing his gun at his balls since he sat down. Stiglitz says that as well, as he quickly wraps his arm around Hellstrom and shoving his gun right into the Gestapo's crotch, telling him that he's a real Frederick Zoller at that range. After a last drink and cigarette, Hicox tells Hellstrom there is only one thing left for him to do. When Hellstrom inquires about what that would be, Hicox signals Stiglitz to tell him. Stiglitz tells him the last thing Hellstrom can do is to "Say 'auf Wiedersehen' to your Nazi balls". Stiglitz shoots the Gestapo Major in his testicles a couple of times, who in turn shoots Hicox, who fires his gun as well. Stigliz quickly jumps out of his chair, pulls his knife and stabs the Major in the back of his neck. He is shot by the female Sergeant in the back, but Stiglitz manages to shoot her in return and the German next to her before being killed by a shotgun blast from Eric, the bartender. Some time later, Hans Landa sees his corpse in the tavern, and upon seeing his Lieutenant First Class uniform, sarcastically remarks that he got promoted, despite his "record of insubordination". In a flashback we see Stiglitz, Hirschberg and Donowitz wearing Wehrmacht uniforms taken from killed soldiers, ambushing a German squad in their car, and mowing them down with MP40s. Property and used items * MG42 * MP40 * Walther PPK * Knife Notable kills * 13 Gestapo officers - killed different ways including strangling with garrote, stabbing to death through pillow and choking to death. * Major Dieter Hellstrom (alongside Archie Hicox) - multiple times shot to testicles by Stiglitz's and Hicox's Walther PPKs, then stabbed by Stiglitz to death. * German Female Soldier (Beethoven) - shot by Walther PPK to chest while shooting him a few times with her Walther P38. * German soldier (Edgar Wallace) - shot by Walther PPK before he could draw his gun. * 4-member Volkswagen Kübelwagen crew (alongside Gerold Hirschberg and Donny Donowitz) - killed by their MP40s while the Basterds were impersonating German soldiers. Personality Hugo Stiglitz is quiet, and doesn't seem to enjoy social interaction. He is a German who hates Nazism and Nazis. He seems to get along with the Basterds as he is seen laughing with them and cheering Donny on when he's using his bat. Hugo also seems to have a personal hatred for the Nazis, which only increased over time, based on a flash back showing him being tortured by one prior to his enlistment. Trivia *Hugo Stiglitz's knife has written on it 'Meine Ehre heißt Treue', which means 'Loyalty is my honor' (lit. 'My honor is named loyalty'). This phrase was the motto of the SS. *In the trailer, he is seen slamming Hellstrom's head on the table, after he shoots him. This scene is supposed to happen before Stiglitz stabs the Major in the neck. *The font used for the word "Hugo Stiglitz" that appears during his introduction, right before the flashback, is also the same that was used in one of the trailers of the movie Kill Bill as well as the exploitation so loved by Tarantino and source of inspiration for the character of Elle Driver, Thriller: a Cruel Picture (aka "They Call Her One Eye"). *When Hugo Stiglitz is introduced, we see a newspaper. There are initially 2 rows of 6 officers pictured on the front page, but when the paper's shown in close-up there are 7 officers' pictures in one row. **One of the film's props shows the newspaper front page with all the 13 mugshots. It's pretty clear that the producers used two different props, one for full view and another for close-ups. It's unclear why they did that. *Stiglitz is shown slowly sharpening his knife. At the end of each stroke there is an ominous "shhhlick" sound as he twists the blade with a flick. This would actually remove the edge he is attempting to sharpen, and dull the blade. *In the basement bar scene, Stiglitz's hand is under the SS officer's arm. When he shoots, his arm is over the officer's arm. *Stiglitz's eyelid moves several times when Landa examines him, hours after he's been killed. *His last Nazi victim in the newspaper was Lieutenant Colonel Richard Max Sellen, he was later overwhelmed by German soldiers. *It's implied by the newspaper and the flashback scenes, that he assassinated his victims while they are defenseless. *The newspaper also called Stiglitz a "Jew-lover" possibly explaining the reason why he did his deeds, though this is more likely just Nazi propaganda. *The article written about Stiglitz in the newspaper repeats itself. Notable quotes *I don't look calm to you? *And at this range, I'm a real Frederick Zoller. *Say "auf Wiedersehen" to your Nazi balls. Behind the scenes Hugo Stiglitz was played by Til Schweiger. Til Schweiger was given a choice of roles - either Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz or Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki. He chose the former. The name of Til Schweiger's character, Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz, is a homage to Mexican B-movie actor Hugo Stiglitz. In a round table discussion with Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino, Tarantino said that Til Schweiger, being born and raised in Germany, had always refused to put on a Nazi uniform for a film role. The only reason he agreed to for this film was because he got to kill Nazis. In a humorous outtake of the tavern scene where Landa finds his corpse, Stiglitz is seen whispering to Sally Menke that he's not actually dead, he was just pretending, in order to catch Landa by surprise and "kick his fucking Nazi balls".https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV5KkBYmVDE Gallery Film Hugo Stiglitz looks at Werner.jpg|Aldo presents Stiglitz to Werner. Hugo Stiglitz title.jpg|Entering Hugo Stiglitz. Hugo Stiglitz paper.jpg|Hugo's deeds. Hugo Stiglitz close-up.jpg|Hugo Stiglitz's mugshot. Hugo Stiglitz strangles Gestapo officer.jpg|Hugo strangles a Gestapo officer. Hugo Stiglitz stabs pillow.jpg|Stiglitz kills another officer. Hugo Stiglitz wakes officer.jpg|Hugo wakes another Gestapo officer... Hugo Stiglitz fist in mouth.jpg|...and kills him too. Hugo Stiglitz being escorted to the prison.png|Stiglitz being escorted in chains. Hugo Stiglitz arrested.jpg|Hugo is arrested. Hugo Stiglitz alone in his cell with his cigarette.jpg|Hugo smoking Hugo Stiglitz in jail and dead Nazis.jpg|Hugo with his cigarette The Basterds free Hugo Stiglitz.jpg|Hugo meets The Basterds. Hugo Stiglitz MG42.jpg|Hugo with a MG42. Hugo Stiglitz sharpens his knife in the small room.jpg|Stiglitz sharpens (and dulls) his knife. Hugo Stiglitz looks at his knife.jpg|Stiglitz looks at his knife. Hugo Stiglitz sharpens his knife.jpg|Stiglitz stops sharpening his knife to look at Hicox. Hugo Stiglitz asks Hicox I don't look calm to you.jpg|"I don't look calm to you?" Wicki, Hicox, Stiglitz.jpg|Hugo sees that the French tavern has more Germans than French. Wilhelm Wicki Archie Hicox Hugo Stiglitz Bridget von Hammersmark tavern stairs.jpg|Stiglitz asses the situation, as Wicki speaks to the Fräulein Christian Berkel as Proprietor Eric in Inglourious Basterds.png|"Whiskey" Hicox gestures Stiglitz to stand up.jpg|Hicox tells Stiglitz to come and kiss the girl. Hugo Stiglitz kisses Bridget von Hammersmark.jpg|Stiglitz kisses the girl. Hicox, von Hammersmark and Hugo drinks.jpg|Stiglitz drinks as Hammersmark takes forever to talk. Hugo Stiglitz congrats Wilhelm.jpg|Hugo congrats Wilhelm. Hugo Stiglitz confronts Wilhelm.jpg|Hugo gets some sense in Wilhelm. German soldiers grab Wilhelm at Hugo Stiglitz's orders.jpg|Stiglitz orders the German soldiers to take Wilhelm away. Dieter Hellstrom talks to Hugo Stiglitz at the table.jpg|"Oberstürmführer Frankfurt" Bridget, Hicox, Wilhelm laugh.jpg|Guess it's a funny story Hugo Stiglitz annoyed by Dieter Hellstrom slap.jpg|Hugo is pissed at the Major's attitude Dieter Hellstrom and Hugo Stiglitz.jpg|Hellstrom and Stiglitz Dieter Hellstrom and Hugo Stiglitz funny faces.jpg|Yeah yeah, it's all true Hugo Stiglitz drinks.jpg|Hugo drinks. Hugo Stiglitz remembers.jpg|Hugo recalls some not very nice moments from his past. Hugo tortured by Nazis.jpg|Hugo is tortured by the Nazis. Hugo Stiglitz and his card name.jpg|Hugo and his card name. Hugo Stiglitz looks at Wicki concerned.jpg|Stiglitz hands the whiskey glass to Wicki. Hugo Stiglitz drinks and looks at Hellstrom.jpg|Stiglitz looks at Hellstrom with his card on his forehead. Hugo Stiglitz puts his gun in Hellstrom's lap.jpg|"And at this range, I'm a real Frederick Zoller." Hugo Stiglitz to Dieter Hellstrom say auf wiedersehen to your Nazi Balls.jpg|"Say 'auf wiedersehen' to your Nazi balls". Hellstrom's Nazi balls are kaput.jpg|Hellstrom's balls are kaput. Hugo stabs Hellstrom.jpg|Hugo stabs the dead Hellstrom. Mathilda sees Hugo shot.jpg|Hugo is shot. Hugo Stiglitz shoots German Female Soldier Beethoven.jpg|Stiglitz shoots German female soldier with his PPK. Hugo Stiglitz dead.jpg|Hugo is dead. Other Til Schweiger as Sgt Hugo Stiglitz in jail.jpg|Stiglitz in prison. Hugo Stiglitz.gif|Stiglitz killing some Nazis. References Category:Characters Category:The Basterds Category:Germans Category:Deceased Category:Males